Page:Tragedies of Euripides (Way 1896) v2.djvu/42
and, rapt in adoration, beheld a vision sublime as that of Hebrew psalmist—
"Thee, self-begotten, who, in ether rolled
Ceaselessly round, by mystic links dost blend
The nature of all things, whom veils enfold
Of light, of dark night flecked with gleams of gold,
Of star-hosts dancing round thee without end."
(Frag. Peirithous).
No marvel that men said afterwards that Zeus had shown especial honour to the tomb of him who had ascribed exceeding majesty to him, who had lifted men's thoughts far above the grovelling conceptions of the priests, far beyond the fairyland of the poets.
Attitude to morality and religion.He who believed in a higher type of divinity believed also in a higher type of humanity, Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report—these he commended to his countrymen. In the noble rheses so frequent in his plays, in chorus-chants that throb with patriotism, that thrill with human sympathy, that breathe solemn reverence for sanctities, he raised men into an atmosphere high above the sordid round of daily life. In golden aphorisms—the "arrows of the soul" which strike into men's hearts and there remain to sting them on to nobler aims—he spoke of virtue—
"Three virtues are there; practise these, my son—
Honour the Gods, the parents that reared thee,
The common laws of Hellas. This do thou,
And aye a crown of glory shalt thou win:"—
(Frag. Antiope.)
of the solid permanence of character—
"Safer than law is upright character—
For this can none by crafty words pervert,